ITZY Explain To IU Why They Choose To Eat Well Instead Of Dieting

This week, ITZY joined IU for an adorable interview on her YouTube show, IU’s Palette. While talking with the members, IU decided to ask them about their eating habits—which turned out to be surprisingly healthy.

Dieting is a very common part of many K-Pop idols’ lives, many girl group stars skipping meals with the aim of improving their figures. IU herself once revealed that she went on an extreme diet consisting of nothing more than an apple for breakfast, a sweet potato for lunch, and a protein shake for dinner.

That’s why IU was interested to hear about how ITZY try to such avoid harmful eating habits. The veteran singer-songwriter probed the members on whether it’s true that they try to eat healthily.

From what I heard, you’ve been trying to eat healthy. You don’t skip meals and have late night snacks sometimes.

— IU

Thankfully, the answer was a resounding yes from all five ITZY members. Yeji went on to explain a little more about their eating habits, revealing that they “love eating tasty food“. According to the leader, their choice to avoid cutting meals from their diet is all about ensuring peak performance. If they don’t eat enough, Yeji explained, their dancing suffers.

We realized that when we eat well, we dance well.

— Yeji

Yeji went on to tell viewers a story about how the members once tried to perform without eating anything, only to find that they weren’t able to focus “because of hunger“. It was then that they realized it’s “too difficult” to perform ITZY’s incredible choreographies without eating properly, especially since music show recordings typically involve at least 3 or 4 performances in a row.

You know, we have to perform at least 3 or 4 times during a pre-recording. It’s nearly impossible to perform without eating anything, but we can perform better after having a good meal.

— Yeji

IU was quick to agree with Yeji, noting that “eating well is important for this job“. Fans will be pleased to see it seems she’s come a long way from her extreme apple and sweet potato diet from a few years ago.

A good meal gives you energy to perform.

— IU

Lia chimed in too, adding that alongside giving her energy, eating tasty food helps her “refresh” herself. Tasty food is something the ITZY members are definitely no strangers to. In a video for Harper’s Bazaar earlier this year, they revealed that fruits, meat, smoothies, ice cream, and plenty of donuts are all part of their daily diets.

Even though ITZY already seem to have their healthy eating regime down well, IU made sure to give them a little extra advice—always eat properly, and always take supplements.

Eating properly is very important. It doesn’t mean that you should eat a lot. Eating regularly and taking nutritional supplements is important… It looks like I’m nagging at you.

— IU